Text Messaging and Connectedness Within Close Interpersonal Relationships

Self Disclosure, Autonomy and Connection: An Analysis of Texting In Romantic College Relationships

“…49.8% (N=106) of participants said they did not feel pressured to text their significant other throughout the day, suggesting that, although perpetual contact has made it possible for couples to text at all times, participants felt able to go without that kind of connection. This finding was supported by the previous research done by Pettigrew in 2009. His conclusion matched the researchers': individuals were able to "use text messaging to both assert autonomy and to maintain connectedness with their relational partners" (p.697).…”

“…Individuals were able to "use text messaging to both assert autonomy and to maintain connectedness with their relational partners" (p.697). However, studies have found there are strong differences in the text messaging patterns, content, and mutual understanding when looking at non-romantic dyads versus romantic pairs; the text messages are interpreted in different ways when sent to different partners (Pettigrew, 2009). …”

Can texting be used to improve romantic relationships?—The effects of sending positive text messages on relationship satisfaction

“…For example, when interviewed about their feelings of connectedness via texting, most people had something positive to report about texting, such as texting allowed them to stay connected to their partner and yet also maintain autonomy at the same time, texting was more private and perpetual than talking on the phone, and in general, texting made the relationship more enjoyable and closer (Pettigrew, 2009). Other self-report studies further confirmed that texting particularly benefits young, single, and socially anxious mobile phone users, enabling them to enrich their personal relationships in ways that might otherwise be denied to them (Reid & Reid, 2010).…”

Self-disclosure and new communication technologies

“…Haythornthwaite's (2005) ideas about media multiplexity suggest that strong-tie relationships such as friendships are in part defined by the use of multiple communication technologies for interaction. Katz and Aakhus's (2002) notion of perpetual contact is rooted in the premise that new communication technologies (particularly mobile phones) have created opportunities for individuals to be accessible-and expectations that they will be accessible (Pettigrew, 2009)-to one another at virtually all times. Both of these ideas have direct implications for scholarship examining self-disclosure in personal relationships.…”